. okay, we are wrapping our part of our special recap of today's closing arguments in trump's criminal trial, but do not go anywhere. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. it's a good time to reflect on how americans fought and died so that we may enjoy the freedoms guaranteed to us by a democratic government, a government that as president lincoln said of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

under trump this kind of government will perish from the earth. >> in a surprise move the biden campaign sent a surrogate of its own to lower manhattan yesterday. two-time academy award winner robert de niro. we'll have more of the actor's warnings about the dangers of a possible second donald trump presidency. and of course we'll go through what happened inside the courtroom as well. during closing arguments in the former president's criminal hush money trial as we are now just hours away from the start of jury deliberations. plus we'll go through new reporting on the deadly israeli air strike in rafah and the biden administration's response to the tragedy. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this wednesday, may 29th. i'm jonathan lemire.

thanks for starting your day with us. and we have a big show this morning. and in just hours donald trump's fate will be in the hands of a juror. both the defense and prosecution delivered their closing arguments yesterday in the former president's hush money criminal tile, wrapping up last night around 8:00 p.m. in a new york city courtroom. judge juan merchan will give the jury its instructions at 10:00 eastern this morning. that's expected to last about an hour. after that deliberations will begin. the judge said the jury will deliberate until about 4:30 this afternoon and schedules for thursday and friday will depend on the jury's progress. as for the closing arguments, the defense was first up yesterday. donald trump's lead attorney todd blanche addressed the jury for a total of 2 hours, 57

minutes. blanche spent most of his time focusing on former trump attorney and fixer michael cohen, who testified during the trial trump was at the center of a hush money payment to adult film actor stormy daniels and then the subsequent effort to cover it up. blanche painted cohen as a serial liar who could not be trusted, doubling down by calling the former fixer the gloat, which stands for greatest liar of all-time. before breaking for lunch the judge admonished blanche for suggesting to the jury that they would send trump to prison if they convicted him, calling blanche's comment outrageous. after the break the judge granted a request from prosecutors to instruct jurors to disregard blanche's remark while assuring them a guilty verdict would not necessarily mean some sort of prison sentence. blanche ended his closing argument with a list of ten reasons why the jury should have

reasonable doubt with cohen at the center. meanwhile, the prosecution took nearly five hours to deliver its closing arguments yesterday. veteran assistant district attorney joshua steinglass took his time re-establishing facts, going over each witness testimony and exhibit in detail, recapping the totality of the state's case. he focused heavily on two main exhibits calling the evidence the smoking guns of the case. first, with notes allegedly hand written by allan weisselberg, which lays out the plan to reimburse michael cohen. that bank statement was allegedly brought to donald trump himself to review. the second smoking gun is a page of hand written notes from trump's former corporate controller jeffrey mcconnie. mcconnie testified that he wrote the notes during a meeting between himself and weisselberg

about the reimbursement payments. steinglass also worked to reframe the defense's charge that prosecutor's case is hanging solely on cohen's testimony. he claimed the case did not rely on cohen, rather that they used him as more of a tour guide. he defended cohen against the defense's descriptions of him as a liar pointing out that lying was not necessary -- or i should say lying was very much necessary in his role as trump's fixer. quote, keep something s else in mind when the defense goes on and on about how michael cohen is immoral or he's a liar, he's a thief. mr. blanche actually said this is not the type of witness you want. the defendant chose michael cohen to be his fixer because he was willing to lie and cheat on mr. trump's behalf. mr. trump chose mr. cohen for the same qualities that his

attorneys now urge you to reject his testimony. joining us now nbc news legal analyst catherine christian. she is a former assistant district attorney in manhattan. catherine, thank you so much for joining us this morning. first let's start with the closing arguments. give us your evaluation of each. >> well, of each i think the defense did what they had to do, they worked with what they had. and all they really have is michael cohen is a liar. that's really all they had. they had to keep stressing that over and over and over again because there is no narrative. there's been criticism of the defense argument and there is no narrative because they didn't have any other narrative other than don't believe michael cohen, and the records aren't false because michael cohen isn't a lawyer, and when you pay a lawyer they're all legal expenses. so that's what they had. and in terms of a defense

argument and generally this is most defense arguments, you're hoping obviously for an acquittal, but the next best thing is a hung jury. for the prosecution they work with what they have, which was a lot, a mountain of evidence. and the tour guide was not just michael cohen, it was also david pecker who i still think is really that most important witness because he was the lead off witness the national enquirer had who talked about when the conspiracy started, which was august 2015, two months after donald trump announced. and he along with being the eyes and ears of the campaign was the eyes and ears of the jury for this conspiracy, and the lead prosecutor said that $130,000 pay off to stormy daniels really was the heart of the conspiracy, and it might have been the reason why donald trump was

elected because of the conspiracy to win the election by unlawful wins. the prosecutor was wrong but the jury is not going to vote guilty or not guilty by the length of summations. it was long because i think there was a weak break for the jury and the prosecution wanted them to remember all the mountains of evidence they had heard. during that week they wanted to make sure their memories were really refreshed. >> catherine, i understand it's impossible to get in the hands of a jury, but in a case like this and from what you would draw from your own experiences and as you've been observing the evidence and the presentations throughout, first of all, how long do you anticipate a jury will need to deliberate in a case like this? is there any way to tell? >> if it's a quick verdict, and quick meaning less than a couple of hours, that really means they didn't deliberate much. we're talking about 34 counts here. yes, they're all the same charge, falsifying business

records, but there are 34 counts you would hope that count by count they discussed it. so i would think, you know, many of us were betting by friday, but really it's like reading tea leaves. the only prediction i will make is i don't see this being an acquittal. i don't see 12 jurors after listening to this mountain of evidence, all 12 of them saying not guilty. that's my only prediction. the evidence points toward a guilty verdict, but you never know. that one person might say no. two people might say no, but there really is a mountain of evidence that kraubts michael cohen. in addition, it points towards the guilt and that was proven by the prosecution with their evidence. >> all right, nbc news legal analyst catherine christian, thank you for starting us off this morning. we'll have much, much more on the trump trial as it goes to the jury. talk about all morning long here on msnbc. next up here on "way too early," the democratic national

committee rolls out a plan to ensure president biden is on the ballot in every state this november. plus, strong storms caused widespread damage across the dallas-fort worth region, and texas wasn't the only state to be hit with severe weather. we'll take a look at that and have a check on the forecast when we come right back. n the ft when we come right back. alice loves the scent of gain so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. say hello to your fairy godmother alice, and long-lasting gain scent beads.

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welcome back. a couple of political headlines now. the democratic national committee is planning to officially nominate president biden ahead of the party's august convention by using a virtual roll call. so this move would let democrats bypass an ohio law that threatened to keep biden off the state's general election ballot this november. a statement yesterday by dnc chair jamie harrison reads in part this way. democrats will land this plane on our own, adding through a virtual roll call we will ensure republicans can't chip away at our democracy with incompetence

or partisan tricks and that ohioans can exercise their right to vote with a presidential candidate of their choice. the dnc's rules and bylaws committee is expected to hold a vote next week on a resolution to allow for this virtual roll call. meanwhile, far right house republican bob good may pay the price for a lapse in loyalty to donald trump. the former president has endorsed good's challenger and named maguire he's a virginia state senator in next month's primary. it comes despite good appearing at trump's hush money trial less than two weeks ago to push the former president's false claims about the case. >> this is crooked sham trial to try to hurt the nominee who's going to be the president of the united states whether or not they like it or whether or not they want that to happen. president trump is going to be re-elected. this gag order episures he cannot defend himself fairly. ware here to have his back,

defend him, and tell the truth about this travesty of justice, this political persecution, this election interference. >> none of that is true, but good has been a devoted supporter of trump, frequently calling him the greatest president of my lifetime. but last year good endorsed ron desantis in the republican presidential primary. at the time good said the florida governor was more of a true conservative than trump and had a lot less baggage. in a long social media post yesterday trump wrote that good had turned his back on our incredible movement and that his repeat, quote, loving endorsement was too late. meanwhile, another devastating storm hit texas yesterday after a deadly weekend of tornados slammed various parts of the united states leaving a trail of destruction. nbc news correspondent maggie vespa has the latest. >> reporter: texas in the bulls

eye again with flash floods stunning drivers in dallas and lightening potentially setting a suburban church and multiple homes on fire say authorities. heavy rain and winds mangling metal buildings, and authorities say killing one person. hail piercing the roof of this wal-mart. and at dfw incredible video of nearly 80 mile per hour gusts appearing to push a plane from its gate. american airlines saying there were no injuries, and its maintenance team is conducting thorough inspections. hundreds of flights canceled, more than 1 million texas customers without power. all of it capping a harrowing holiday weekend with more than 60 tornados reported across 14 states including kentucky where clara rice's worst nightmare repeated itself. this is not the first tornado you've been through. >> no, ma'am. >> reporter: the mother and grandmother became famous back in 2021 when a tornado destroyed her home and sent her bathtub

flying, her two baby grandsons inside clutching her bible. >> i had no clue at all where these babies was. >> miraculously the boys were found alive and rice rebuilt. sunday her home was obliterated again. authorities say memorial day weekend storms killed five people in kentucky, close to two dozen nationwide. with more than 1,000 tornados reported, 2024 is now the second busiest start to a year ever recorded. rice's family this time taking cover in a neighbor's storm shelter. will you rebuild here again? >> yes, ma'am. if you can afford a tornado shelter any way at all, get you one and use it. just use it. god's put it there. >> really terrifying images there. nbc's maggie vespa with that report. we'll have much more on the forecast, and we'll see if there are more storms coming when we

check in with meteorologist angie lassman in just a minute. and also ahead we'll have the highlights from the conference finals in both the nba and nhl playoffs plus a look at caitlin clark's best game as a pro by far. all of that when we come right back. all of that when we come right back himself again. but even though time has passed, his risk of a second attack hasn't. mike is still living in the red. with a very high risk of another heart attack or stroke. he doesn't know with his risk factors his ldl-c (bad cholesterol) is still too high - the recommended level is below 55. are you living in the red? get in the know. learn how to get a free ldl-c test at attackheartdisease.com.

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edwards another screen, a two. big time shot. >> anthony edwards put the t wolves up by five with that clutch jumper in the final minute of regulation a lead minnesota would not relinquish on their way to the first win of the western conference. edwards finished with a game high 29. he added 25, and the timberwolves avoid elimination with that 105-100 road victory

over the dallas mavericks. the series still 3-1 dallas. the series shifts back to minneapolis for game five tomorrow night. to the wnba court in indianapolis now and indiana fever caitlin clark turned in her most complete game yet as a pro dishing out six assists and also grabbing five rebounds, chipped in three steals, three blocks to go along with her season high 30 points against the league's only other one win team. clark's effort not quite enough. the fever fell to the los angeles sparks 88-82. you do get a sense she's finding her footing there in the pros. stoothe stanley cup playoffs now and third straight overtime game in the eastern conference finals. the new york goalie turned away 30 shots in regulation but could not stop the power play goal leader in over time. stam rinehart the star of this league scored his 55th in the combined regular season playoffs

about a minute into the extra period. florida panthers win 3-2 at home last night to tie up that series two games apiece. it's been a very good series so far. game five tomorrow night at madison square garden. tonight the edmonton oilers will host game four of the western finals. dallas leads that series 2-1. we turn to major league baseball and historic performance on the mound. padres receiver jeremiah estrada has set the record adding another five last night to complete a 4-0 shutout of the miami marlins and extend his streak to 13 in a row. he's a reliever but still pure dominance. all 13 strikeouts in that streak have been sweet. time now for the weather and let's go to meteorologist angie lassman. a few minutes ago we played a package of severe devastation in

texas. are we in store for that today? >> we unfortunately are. the threat is little lower when it comes to tornados. we're watching basically two kinds of systems. this one in the north west and north east to canada points south. that's going to be cooler conditions and rainy conditions, but it's this system we'll watch. today it's the northern plains stretching into the southern plaps. basically the severe storms aren't expected to erupt until later this afternoon and into the evening hours, so we'll have to watch for that, but notice the impacts. wind gusts over 60 miles per hour. that's what we're most concerned about. but large hail on the table, too, and tornadoes risk like i mentioned on the lower end but still not zero. as we look ahead to tomorrow, that severe weather shifts to the south including a good chunk of parts of oklahoma, kansas, texas especially some of those really hard hit areas over the past couple of weeks. so we will once again be watching for all of those same

kind of threats. tornadoes threat is lower but it's not zero. so kind of a rinse and repeat of what we're dealing with today. big picture look what's going on in the north east or midwest tornado risk on tap through friday. we'll see some of these showers in parts of the north east and you might need an umbrella and it'll be brief, maybe a couple of gusty winds out there, but that's about it. the temperatures will get your attention. detroit ends up in the upper 60s, chicago as well. these temperatures are on the cooler side of things, jonathan, for this time of year. >> angie, thank you so mup. we'll be watching for those storms. next up here we'll take a look at what hollywood star robert de niro had to say outside donald trump's criminal hush money trial yesterday in a surprise guerilla-style appearance. we'll be right back with that. u appearance we'll be right back with that.

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welcome back to "way too early." it's a couple minutes before 5:30 a.m. on the east coast, 2:30 out west on this wednesday morning. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. after weeks of watching republican members of congress support donald trump at that lower manhattan courthouse where his hush money trial is being held, the biden campaign sent its own high profile surrogate to the proceedings yesterday. the actor robert de niro. the two-time oscar winner and new york city resident lives not too far awail from the courthouse showed up shortly after court got under way.

he was joined in a surprise move by biden campaign communications director michael tyler as well as two of the police officers who defended the u.s. capitol on january 6th, michael fanone and harry dunn. there de niro delivered a message on behalf of the campaign, warnings about the dangers of a second trump administration. >> i don't mean to scare you. wait, maybe i do mean to scare you. if trump return tuesday the white house, you can kiss these freedoms good-bye that we all take for granted. and elections, forget about it. that's over, that's done. if he gets in, i can tell you right now he will never leave. he will never leave. when trump ran in 2016 it was like a joke, this buffoon running for president. though, never could happen. we've forgotten the lessons of history that showed us other

clowns who weren't taken seriously until they became vicious dictators. with trump we have a second chance, and no one is laughing now. this is the time to stop him by voting him out once and for all. we don't want to wake up after the election saying, what, again? my god, what the hell has he done? we can't have that happen again. >> following de niro's surprise appearance trump campaign officials rushed to the podium in lower manhattan to rebuke him, calling the 2024 oscar nominee washed up. >> and the best biden can do is rollout a washed up actor and the best thing to do is rollout a washed up actor. >> cheap shot at martin scorsese there. joining us now national reporter

for politico. elena, good to see you. so let's talk about this surprise move yesterday. there's definitely a change in tactics for the biden campaign, which has largely ignored the court proceedings, and as we reported the president himself won't speak about what happens there until after we get a verdict. so what led the biden camp to rush robert de niro and some other aerogts to lower manhattan and create this sort of strange spectacle? >> look, our reporting there is out, but there's a real urgency and there's a need to provide counter programming and also try to break through. there's certainly frustration within the biden camp about the wall to wall coverage of the trump trial and to break through biden's message as we've seen cable news to focus -- you know, to focus so much on the trump trial and ongoing deliberations there, so this was an attempt to try and break through to voters, break through to people watching

cable news to get to this message. they were careful and noted to us in the remarks they were not talking about the trial itself, that when robert de niro spoke and when those two capitol police officers spoke it was not about the trump trial explicitly at least at the mics but rather the threats trump posed to democracy and lean into their campaign messaging. the communications director said explicitly we're here because you all are here, so this was an attempt to try and break through and reach some of those voters and reach the media in this way. whether or not that bears out to be successful, particularly given some of the moments were pretty off script, there were a few misfires. a lot when robert de niro was speaking and police officers, there was a car alarm burglarizing and hecklers engaging robert de niro during his speech before and after.

so there were some expletives traded. it was not necessarily a smooth press conference but one certainly won very new york style a fair way of putting it. >> the campaign has promised more of these events in the weeks ahead. michael tyler will join us a little later on "morning joe." you were part of a team of reporters yesterday that wrote a story that got a lot of attention across the political world. you wrote there's a pervasive sense of fear that's settled in at the highest levels at the democratic party about biden's re-election chances. tell us what you found and what's the mood within the democratic party it stfl? >> this was a piece of news with many democrats, administrategists, operatives all across the country and here in washington who spoke to this sense of fear and frustration around where the president is in this moment. so the president has maintained a lot of the advantage of the

incumbency be that fund raising, spending, trying to get out there to define this race early, and yet we have not seen his numbers basically move at all since the "state of the union" where he did see a little bit of a bump. basically they've settled back into the same place. he is by and large polling averages show he continues to lag donald trump in battleground states. broadly speaking -- across all six or seven of them by polling averages, and so this speak speaks to a frustration they feel things are not changing five months out from the election and speaks to what they feel having private conversations with democrats where they talk to us one-on-one and what they're comfortable saying and criticizing publicing. because there is a sense of the stake of this election and how dire the circumstances are for the democratic party. there's an enormous amount of nervousness in acknowledging that, and yet we were able to capture some of that dread by

talking to just tons and tons of democrats who are in this fight right now. >> there's no doubt what the democrats say privately is different than what they say publicly. elapa, a quick follow-up. it's still relatively early in the race. does the biden campaign have optimism there'll be some game changing moments including the debate in a months time that could reverse things? >> you're absolutely right. it's important to note even though though wairp able to capture right now this feeling it's not going to hold in the next few months. there's going to be a number of big moments that the biden campaign wants to capitalize on and can very well turn into game changing moments. that starts with the debate on june 27th at the end of the month and we know by reporting both camps want to shake-up the race here and choosing it debate this early is an effort to reset sort of where this race is right

now. we're also going to see the conventions, also going to see potentially another debate both between the vp candidates but also the president and former president later this fall. so there's going to be a number of moments in which we're going to see this race sort of get another look from voters and from those working on the campaigns. >> really good reporting for us this morning from national reporter for politico. next hup here we'll go live to cnbc for an early look what's driving the day on wall street after yesterday's record close for the nasdaq. plus consumer confidence is back on the rise after three months of a steady decline. we'll dig into what that means for the u.s. economy when we come right back. e u.s. economy e come right back.

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time now for business, and for that let's bring in cnbc's carolyn roth who joins us live from london. let's talk about stock futures.

they appear lower this morning after the nasdaq rose to a new record yesterday. what should we expect today? >> a negative trading session that's exactly what we should expect we're expecting triple digit declines both of the nasdaq and the dow. as you alluded to we saw the nasdaq crossing the 17,000 level for the first time in yesterday's trading session. that's another record, and once again powered by nvidia shares, which were higher to the tune of 9%. but we also saw global bond yields rising on the back of expected data. by and large we're seeing investors pricing in higher rates for longer, and we get into some very important data points on friday, the core pc, that's the fed's preferred inflation gauge so that will give us more cues as to what the fed might be doing next. >> so americans might be feeling better about the economy for the first time in months, which is development that could significant political

implications as well in this election year. carolin, tell us the latest. >> consumer confidence in the month of may unexpectedly rose after three months of declines, and that's really good news overall for the economy and also consumers feeling better about the job market and this optimism very much extending across all income segments. it's not all rosy, though, because some consumers are still worried about inflation accelerating once again, and many of the consumers out there still expecting interest rates to rise further. >> all right, cnbc's carolin roth, live from london, thank you very much. next up here what we're learning about israel's deadly strike in rafah including why the biden administration says the attack did not cross the president's red line. an important story when we come right back. d line an important story when we come right back looks like my to-do list grew. "paint the bathroom, give baxter a bath,

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welcome back as we turn to important developments out of the middle east. it appears the emissions used in

israel's deadly strike on that rafah temp tent camp were made in the united states. that's according to "the new york times" which spoke to weapons experts and reviewed visual evidence. "the times" reports the u.s. has been urging israel to use a specific type of bomb because officials say it can reduce civilian casualties. this comes as the white house says the strike in rafah does not violate president biden's red line. national security council spokesperson john kirby told reporters yesterday that while the strike was devastating, the scale of the attack was not enough to change u.s. policy. >> we still don't believe that a major ground operation in rafah is warranted. we still don't want to see the israelis as we say smash into rafah of large units over large pieces of territory. we still believe that. and we haven't seen that at this point. we're going to be watching this

of course very, very closely. i want to end this answer by making it very clear that regardless every single loss of innocent life is tragic and every single loss of innocent life should be prevented as much as possible. >> earlier this month biden threatened to with hold some weapons transfers to israel if it targeted heavily populated areas in rafah. joining us now national security reporter for politico alex ward. alex, you and i teamed up for story yesterday first to report the idea that the u.s. did not believe the strike in rafah though tragic did not cross the president's red line. flesh this out for the viewers, please, as to why the administration made this calculation and what could happen next. >> let's start with the fact that president joe biden does not necessarily want to break in any way with israel. so whatever red line may or may not have been said in previous interviews, the red line was always going to move.

but in this case the white house, the state department and others, they're saying this does not meet the threshold of a major military ground operation meaning in their -- in their version of it that there are thousands and thousands of troops working in coordinated columns to attack major population centers. what you're seeing now we still have israeli tanks in rafah, where you've got many a troops still going around the city and its areas kugting raids, going after tunnels and some civilians being killed as part of its operation. that while most civilian deaths are tragic does not meet that threshold. in effect you have the administration saying anything under israeli forces going in as kirby said smashing into rafah, is sending in just a massive number of troops that causes widespread devastation that has been seen in other gazan cities, anything short of that is acceptable. >> we heard from vice president harris yesterday and president

biden himself has yet to weigh in. you mention a full on invasion of rafah, and this controversy about the strike comes as an nbc news crew on the ground in gaza yesterday reported seeing israeli tanks in central rafah for the very first time. what's our read as to why they're there and what could happen next? >> well, the center of rafah is a strategic place. you can get high on the hill, look over to the egyptian border. you can have the high ground, which is good for any military operation. one stated objective for the israelis here one is to defeat hamas, and the other is ensure the smuggling that happens from egypt into gaza can no longer happen. in a way this israeli mission is also one of policing and anti-smuggle. so from that vantage point you need to sort of have that. but either way i mean if you have tanks in the center of rafah, if you have troops there, that is a major population center. that is the invasion. of course you'll have the israelis and americans say about a million or so palestinians

that have fled, and so, you know, there aren't as many civilians as could have been in harms way. >> very briefly last question. what sort of pressure is the biden administration putting on netanyahu right now about rafah? >> not much other than, again, as long as you don't go in this major way you'll still get your offensive and defensive weapons, we'll still continue to be with you, and of course you have the u.s. defending israel even though there are two u.n. courts that are going after israel's campaign here, one of the international court of justice, one the international criminal court. diplomatically, militari the united states is defending them but i think everything short of a massive campaign in rafah or elsewhere in gaza will get the implicit green light from washington. >> strong reporting as always. alex ward, thank you, as always and we talk to you again soon.

tony gonzalez narrowly defeated a pro-gun youtube star in the state of texas. we will dig into what the results might mean for the republican party at large. coming up on "morning joe," we will bring you the key takeaways from the closing arguments in donald trump's hush money trial and preview what to expect when jury deliberations begin just a few hours from now. plus, democratic senator john fetterman of the key battleground state of pennsylvania will join the conversation to discuss voter sentiment ahead of november's elections and president biden's trip to his state later today. also ahead, grammy award sinker darius rucker will join us live in the studio to talk about his memoir, "life is too short." "morning joe" is just moments away. "morning joe" is just moments away she thinks her flaky gray patches are all people see.

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this isn't charmin! no wonder i don't feel as clean. here's charmin ultra strong. ahhh! my bottom's been saved! with its diamond weave texture, charmin ultra strong cleans better with fewer sheets and less effort. enjoy the go with charmin. welcome back. we return to politics. tony gonzalez of texas narrowly defeated a far right challenger in a runoff election last night. he represents the town of valde.

despite a massive fund-raising operation, gonzales victory was exceedingly tight and all precincts reporting he let by 400 votes. it warned a loss to open the door for democrats to flip the district in november. his win now bolster republican efforts to potentially hold the house and most experts think they are the underdog to do that. joining us to talk more on this is nbc political analyst brendan buck, a communications strategist to house speaker ryan . what lessons can we learn from last night? >> i think it shows just how narrow the hold is that the sort of party has.

it's a youtube content. sort of the entertainment politics, anything to get clicks versus somebody who was trying to govern and tony gonzales set a real record of sort of shutting the far right and doing what he thinks is right, whether it's same-sex marriage, gun control, but also things like funding the government and so the basic operations that all of the freedom caucus types in congress dislike. you could say it's a victory for governance but it was really narrow. it's the type of thing you wonder why do the republicans not support gun control? it's things like this. you mate narrowly lose your primary to somebody who moves in out of state and talks about ak-15s all the time. i don't know that it's all that encouraging going toward, to be honest. >> it continues to surge throughout most of the republican party. so gonzales' challenger was

backed by republican congressman bob good who, himself, donald trump just turned on. as you mentioned earlier in the show, trump endorsed good's challenger in the primary. give us your read as to where that can tell us. the state of the gop. >> sure. and just to note how dysfunctional it is you have all of these members targeting their colleagues in primaries is something that would not happen five, six, seven years ago. bob good is the chairman of the freedom caucus and leader of the most far right caucus in the house and, yet, that doesn't seem to matter in a republican primary right now. it really matters do you have donald trump's seal of approval? bob good endorsed ron desantis in the primary instead of donald trump and he has been trying to get back in his good graces ever since. he went up to new york and tried to be there for the trial to show how much he loves him but, you know, it's this really depressing situation where you

could be as conservative as you want and that doesn't matter as long as donald trump doesn't like you. it may not ultimately decide the race. i think bob good will potentially lose for a lot of other reasons. he is not a very effective member of congress. he is not very good at communicating. but it is a significant symbol to me that donald trump's endorsement is key above anything else ideologically. >> we are hours from now when the jury will start to deliberating the fate of donald trump. the former president of the united states. we may be, later today, next couple of days, we will get a verdict. i know you speak to republicans of all stripes all the time. what is their read as to how this -- not the jury will do, but what the implications of a conviction, an acquittal or a hung jury. >> it's remarkable how little

people are concerned about it. this could be one of the, you know, biggest moments in presidential history and i think people are still shrugging at it. there have been so many times where we are told that this is going to be the moment that everything falls apart for donald trump. people just don't believe it. certainly, i don't think that this is a good thing for donald trump and don't get me wrong that he won't pay some price, but he has done such a good job convincing people that everything is illegitimately and people are out to get him and you can't trust anything. his entire strategy is built around turning out base, not appealing to the middle, that the effects, i think, are going to be relatively small and if we know anything about donald trump, he'll make himself a victim and try to make something positive out of it for himself. maybe that is a false sense of confidence for republicans. this could be earth shattering if he is convicted. you would not think so given the

calm nature that you hear from a lot of republicans right now. >> yeah. the republicans i spoke to say the same. this is sort of baked in. they know who trump it and don't think it will change month. the biden administration grooe. agree. even if it moves some voters in the swing states and we will all be watching so carefully as those deliberations begin later this morning. msnbc political analyst brendan buck, thank you, as always. thanks to all of you for getting up "way too early" for us on this wednesday morning. a jam-packed "morning joe" starts right now. ♪♪ >> good morning. welcome to "morning joe." it is wednesday, june 29th. we are hours away from the start of jury deliberations in donald trump's criminal hush money case. we will have expert legal analysis on yesterday's closing arguments and when the jurors could return a possible verdict. plus, we are used to seeing followers of